Photos

Saturday, 9 May 2015

Blue Mosque Exterior

Sultan Ahmed Mosque

Is The Blue Mosque
Blue?

The mosque is one of the defining features of Istanbul’s
skyline and a World Heritage Site.It is
better known as the Blue Mosque but is it really blue?The exterior looks more grey than blue.The interior does not look blue at all.
This is not the Green Mosque in Bursa! Perhaps we tourists should just call it by its proper name, Sultan Ahmed Mosque or
Sultan Ahmet Cami in Turkish.

It was built at the beginning of a
long period of gradual decline of the Ottoman Empire.At the start of the teenage Sultan's reign, both Austria and Persia had scored victories over the Ottomans. The Persians in 1603 reclaimed Tabriz (Persia) and the Caucasus states of Georgia and Azerbaijan.A 1606 treaty ended Austria's annual tribute-paying status
and recognized them as a sovereign state (Hapsburg Dynasty).There was no war booty in 1609 to finance such an extravagant building.So why was such a grandiose mosque built?One possible explanation was that the mosque
was built to deflect criticism; in other words, it was a propaganda
campaign and statement of power.

Sultan Ahmed Mosque

Sultan
Ahmed I came to throne at the age of 13: his mother was Greek BTW.He broke with the 200-year-old Ottoman
tradition of fratricide –yes,
all brothers were usually killed to prevent them from claiming the throne.The tourist district where many of us live and visit is
named for this sultan. However, he wanted to leave something permanent behind
so he would be remembered. He wanted to build a mosque that would be more
magnificent than any
previous one.

Ahmed was directly involved in the design of the
mosque.Even in those days, it paid to
get along with the boss.Unfortunately
for the first architect, he was executed by Ahmed.The mosque was
completed in 1616, just one year before Ahmed himself died of typhus at a mere
27 years old!

The
mosque was designed by architect number 2, Mehmed Ağa, a student of Sinan, the
great Ottoman architect of Süleymaniye
Mosque Dome-ination fame. Mehmed Ağa also died in 1617, a year after
the mosque was completed.

﻿

Hagia Sophia ... so close

﻿Mehmed
Ağa
didn't strive for overwhelming size, majesty and splendour.He designed the mosque to meet the
expectations of his sultan to make a monument greater than the church (even
though it was now a mosque) of Hagia Sophia, which interestingly is
just on the other side of the Hippodrome.

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Cascading Domes

﻿

The mosque was deliberately built on the site of the
palace of the Byzantine emperors. This was controversial since it meant
destroying the existing palaces of the Sultan's ministers.

﻿﻿﻿﻿For the spectacular sunlit view of the east or Hippodrome side come in the morning. The
Sultan Ahmed Mosque surely wins over Hagia Sophia for its exterior with
cascading waterfall of domes contrasted by six pointed minarets.

Blue Mosque Minarets

Ahmed's Minarets

Each of these “pencil”minarets has three balconies, like rings around each finger.Imagine the old days when the muezzin had to climb a narrow spiral staircase five times a day to announce the call to prayer.Most mosques have one or two minarets.Mosques built by sultans usually have four
minarets.But Sultan Ahmed Mosque has
six minarets.

Some travel tales say that
when the number of minarets was revealed, the Sultan was criticized for trying
to match the number of minarets in Mecca and that Ahmed ordered a seventh
minaret to be built in Mecca.

But evidence to support this claim is pencil thin since at that time there were only four minarets
at the magnificent mosque of the Ka’aba in Mecca.It was
long after Sultan Ahmed died that the holiest mosque of Islam was rebuilt. In 1629, three more minarets were added so
that the Ka’aba was surrounded by 7 minarets.

Ahmed's Garden

If like us, you find that the interior is closed for one of the daily prayers, you could be
waiting a long time.In this case, look
around the outside as well as down the streets to see the south and west
facades.

The court is about as large as the mosque itself and
has manicured gardens with - what else - tulips.

Ahmed's Arcades

The mosque is surrounded by a continuous vaulted arcade. Below the arcade are water taps.When the believers hear the call to prayer
from the minarets, they perform their ablutions (washing) and then pray.

Also, you can walk down the streets to see the south and west sides of the mosque.

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Doorway to High School

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﻿Because the east side was backlit, the alternative was to search out a view of the façade in the sunlight on the west side.

Doorway to Heaven

There were interesting things to see on the way. There was a gateway into the Sultan Ahmed Mosque and a high school at a recess break.

East Turkestan Restaurant

﻿﻿﻿Along the "painted street" we saw Turkish writing on the buildings and wondered what it meant? Kurtulus sirasi (text in the photo) means "duringtheliberation".Where is East Turkestan that needs freedom? We didn't think it was Eastern Turkey. East Turkestan means the homeland of the Islamic Uighur people of Xinjiang province of China. This is supposedly a restaurant owned by an East Turkestani expat.

Painted Street

So is the Blue Mosque really blue? You have to check out the next post to find the answer.

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About Us

The purpose of this blog is to ignite your
sense of wonder and help you appreciate travelling and learning about the world. It covers art, architecture, culture and traditions that are
relevant to travel. Interesting stories highlight how one culture has impacted another culture.

We have lived and travelled around the world, particularly in Europe (7 years), North and Central America. We have led courses and seminars on travel and culture appreciation at the University of Alberta, Grant MacEwan Univ. and the Edmonton Convention Centre. We plan all of our trip itineraries by computer.